Saturday, April 23, 2011

I pulled out the bear's paw quilt again (I am working on it for Myra's PhD Challenge). I am hand quilting the border now. If this quilt had been machine quilted, it would have been finished years ago!

Since you can't tell from the front, this is the back. I used a stencil for the braid design.

Today for the FMQ Challenge I quilted the background on an applique block.

The back again. I used a McTavishing design for this one. Tomorrow I will add some quilting to the appliques.

On Thursday I "Skyped" for the first time with Joan (Joan at Leschenault) using my son's computer. Unbelievable that we were on the other sides of the world, chatting and showing each our quilts. It was just like visiting with her in her home.

So today I purchased a web cam for my computer, so I can Skype some more (need to get some more Skypeing friends too).

Thursday, April 21, 2011

and this is a table runner I pieced a while ago, I was just waiting for the right time to quilt it.

Lately we have had a beautiful black cat visiting our home, but a bird feeder and a cat are not a good combination. I've see him catch one bird, but when I went out, he dropped it and it flew away - thankfully. I still don't know whose cat it is.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

This table topper and potholder are made by my sister Marie!She was very pleased that she was able to follow the patterns (I was pleased that she could - I figured that my patterns were OK). I did not help her in any way.

She used Bali fabrics and cotton batting. She used a walking foot for the machine quilting.Fantastic job Marie!!

I hope other people are working on finishing a project for the challenge (you have until the end of May). I am giving away a package of some of my favorite quilting things.

Monday, April 18, 2011

I have been waiting to finish the Thread Head Quilt Along quilt, and getting caught up on the other two BOM's I joined this year before I started this new BOM. This was the weekend. I am using a "Civil War Chronicles" bundle that I recently bought (more about that later).

January's block

February's block (just some vines to finish stitching)

March's block

April's block (it was the crows that persuaded me to join in on this BOM)

This is going to end up looking very scrappy. Love it!This sure is a fun BOM, all the blocks are so different, plus this is the first time I have added embroidery to a quilt (the buttons will be sewn on after quilting).

On to the problem with the fat quarters -

When I opened up the Civil War Chronicles fat quarter bundle I was very surprised by how small they all were. Mostly all about 17" x 21", a few were less than that (they are advertised at being 20" x 22" - there wasn't one that size). In the above picture I laid the best CWC fq on a Moda fq (from a Civil War Homefront bundle) and you can still see the difference.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

I thought I would just mention a few changes to this years Free Motion Quilting Challenge (I mentioned it last Monday) that Wendy (Inky Threads) and I are hosting.

You will now have between April 22nd to May 12th in which to free motion quilt for 14 consecutive days (that's the big challenge!)

Plus, Wendy has also started a new blog for all the participants to post on - The FMQ Challenge.If you have expressed an interest in joining in on the challenge, you should get an invitation (I apologize if I missed someone, please let me know). The rules are mentioned on the new blog if you would like to join in on the fun.

Just because I have to have some pictures -

My free motion wreaths over a year ago, before last years FMQ Challenge.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

I had a bit of trouble with this block. I thought it was my fault - the lower lollipop flowers and the center printed as ovals. Luckily I noticed it before I made the freezer paper templates, but it made it difficult to place the appliques in the right spots. (Now that I look at it the yellow lollipop flowers on the sides look like licorice allsorts - yum!)

Then I noticed that the lower flowers and center are also ovals on the colour image that prints out too - so it is the fault of the pattern - keep this in mind if you are making it.

My son took this picture this morning on our drive to school - this field floods every spring, but there is supposed to be lots of flooding in Manitoba this year (not for us).

Monday, April 11, 2011

My friend Wendy (Inky Threads) and I have decided to offer up another Free Motion Quilting Challenge this year (last year's challenge was very successful). The point of this challenge is to encourage people to free motion quilt on their domestic sewing machines - you will be amazed at how much you can improve in just two weeks.

just because I needed a picture

We are challenging people to free motion quilteverydayfortwo weeks (no cheating). The challenge is open to bloggers and non-bloggers - just post about your FMQ everyday or email Wendy or myself everyday with your updates. You can FMQ on anything - practice samples/projects - anything, for any amount of time, everyday - just know that you will improve after two weeks.

another gratuitous picture

The FMQ Challenge will run from April 22nd 2011 to May 6th 2011.

And like any good challenge there are prizes! Wendy is offering a book and I will have something too (had an incredibly busy/not pleasant weekend! and haven't had time to get something together, but I will). Just leave me a comment or email me (email is on my profile page) saying that you would like to participate or you can contact Wendy.

I haven't done any sewing for the past few days!!! Today I did managed to start working on April's Granny's Hankie BOM (more circles).

Thursday, April 7, 2011

I finished March's Granny's Hankie BOM (16" block). This pattern will just be available for another day and April's will come out on Saturday. I changed the background to plain black Bali fabric, so I will have to redo the January and February blocks. I am much happier with this background (you can see the old background here, the pattern was too busy).

I made April's block for the EQ BOM. These are great little blocks (6") and you don't need EQ.

My catch-up that was more important to my family -

I danced around my house with this baby and

made supper, plus a hot dessert!! Somethings that have been neglected recently!

More signs of spring - I saw a mourning dove this morning, plus some grackles and robins, along with lots of juncos.

Carrying on the Tradition

The old quilts on the right side of my blog header photo are ones made by a couple of great-grandmothers, a grandmother and an aunt, plus some of their photos and some of their quilting supplies. The quilt in the background and the ones on the left are mine.